Ryan Mahannah
Actor/Director/Educator
Recent Reviews
FAU’s production of Dog Sees God a Must See for South Florida Theatre Lovers
Richard Cameron, August 2012
"You may see resemblance of characters from the popular comic Peanuts but now as teenagers these kids are dealing with much bigger issues than comics... Please Note Adult themed! Current issues like drugs, identity issues, bulling, homophobia and suicide take this parody for a wild ride. The Director's note says it all "Good Grief the Peanuts have finally come out of their shells." With the help of Director **Ryan Mahannah they have come out with important acting beats embraced with lighting and sets that make Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead a Theatre Chat top pick for South Florida."
Theatre Review: DOG SEES GOD: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead
Dr. Bob, August 2012
"Good grief. So you’ve been a character in a hit newspaper serial cartoon since 1950, facing the never ending traumas and joys of childhood without ever reaching puberty. You’re forever young, forever living through a child’s eye, and forever wondering when will I ever grow up. Then one day it happens, and you finally graduate from elementary school and enter those liberating teenage years when all the magic of life really begins. Yet, is it really liberating, and is it really all that magical? For sure, there are football heroes and prom queens in every high school, but what about the rest of us? What about the 99% who occupy the lesser ranks of teeagedom but never find its holy trinity: popularity, acceptance and happiness? In other words, for the most part, what about you and me?"
Strong Cast, Writing Works in Simon Play
Happ, October 2013
"Although a senior at Florida Atlantic University, short, wide-eyed Mahannah comes off as a believable 15-year-old, with a dry delivery and nice comic timing. Equity actors Jessica K. Peterson and Michael H. Small play his parents quite credibly. She has a booming bray that calls the family to dinner and keeps Eugene in line, while Small, the put-upon patriarch, weary from his multiple jobs, speaks with an authentic-sounding Brooklyn cadence."
Plaza Theatre’s strong production can’t revive dated ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’
Sjostorm, October 2013
"Director Andy Rogow guides a workmanlike production, drawing strong performances from Ryan Mahannah as Eugene, Jacqueline Laggy as Blanche, Jessica Peterson as Kate, Eva Gluck as Laurie, Blaze Powers as Nora, Noah Jacobson as Stanley and Michael Small as Jack.
Mahannah gives a boyishly engaging performance as 13-year-old Eugene, the story’s narrator and Simon’s alter ego, who pesters his older brother Stanley for details about sex and grumbles about being blamed for everything that goes wrong, while recording his observations in his memoir."